Man who wanted to remain unnamed camped in the vicinity of N.W. 8th Ave. and N.W. 17th Street, said he has been homless for three years after losing his job. PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVID L. SNELLING

Miami – While Florida Democrats are urging Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and his allies to tackle the state’s affordable housing crisis, they decided to address a different kind of houseless issue instead.

DeSantis was in Miami Beach last week when he announced plans to force Florida counties and cities to crackdown on homeless people taking up residence in makeshift camp sites, parks, beaches and other public places.

He said Florida has the nation’s third largest homeless population, behind California and New York.

The former presidential candidate, who dropped out of the race after dismal results in the Iowa Caucus, applauded Miami Beach officials for their efforts to clamp down on homelessness when they passed legislation last year to arrest homeless people sleeping overnight in public places if they refuse to go to shelters.

Miami Beach police arrested 20 people under the ordinance late last year, most of whom were sleeping on the beach, according to police reports.

The City of Miami, which has the highest homeless population in South Florida, once proposed to house homeless people in small tiny homes on Virginia Key in 2022 but withdrew the plan after critics decried the idea.

Opponents said a homeless population on Virginia Key would scale back tourism and plans to restore Virginia Key Beach, Miami’s only Colored Beach during segregation.

DeSantis said he’s working with the Florida Legislature to keep Florida’s streets clean and safe by combating homelessness. “We cannot allow any city in Florida to become like San Francisco, where homelessness, drugs, and crime have decimated the quality of life, hurt the economy, and eroded freedom,” DeSantis said. “In Florida we will continue to enact policies that promote accountability and community safety, unlike in California where they are promoting dangerous policies that harm their communities and economy.”

DeSantis and the Legislature’s plan would ban camping on streets, sidewalks and parks, create state enforcement tools to ensure local governments comply, increase funding for homeless shelters, substance abuse and mental health treatment, discourage drug use among the homeless population and create job training programs for those lacking skills.

DeSantis said once several bills to crackdown on homelessness pass in the Florida Legislature, he will sign them into law and will take effect this year.

That would impact a large homeless population living in tents under I-95 in Overtown and homeless people setting up camps near Jackson Memorial Hospital.

The law would also wipe away homeless people sleeping overnight under the facades of buildings in Downtown Miami and in parks in Liberty City and Brownsville.

But several local non-profit organizations that help homeless people get back on their feet said anti-homeless legislation is not indispensable because it targets vagabonds recovering from substance abuse and alcohol and suffer from mental illness.

They said more state funding to build more shelters and expand drug treatment and job programs is the right approach to end homelessness in Miami-Dade County.

The Miami-Dade Homeless Trust, created in 1992 to help the county address the homeless population, said it’s doing fine, and state interference could force the organization to rescind plans to get people off the streets.

The Trust created the nation’s first dedicated funding source for homeless services from the 1 percent food and beverage tax.

According to its website, the Trust purchased an assisted living facility to house homeless seniors and sends its outreach workers into the community to give medications to homeless people who haven’t yet found housing.

Since the early 1990s, the county has since gone from more than 8,000 homeless people to less than 1,000 in MiamiDade County Homeless Trust’s most recent count, from August last year.

The Trust has partnerships with a host of non-profit organizations that help the homeless including Camillus House, Better Way of Miami, Miami Rescue Mission, Miami Recovery Project and Miami Homes for All.

The Trust’s latest project is the purchase of La Quinta Inn hotel on Caribbean Boulevard in Cutler Bay and transform it into housing for people who are ready to leave homeless shelters and live independently, particularly senior and military veterans.

Despite opposition from Cutler Bay’s mayor and town council, the Trust signed a $14 million agreement to buy the 107-unit facility.

Cutler Bay officials said putting people who are drug abusers and alcoholics in their town could drive away residents and move to other areas.

Lobbyist Ron Book, who is chairman of the Trust, said that’s far from the truth.

“This is not a homeless shelter,” Book told council members during their meeting in January. “It is intended to be permanent supportive housing, to move people that have either been in shelter or are fresh, situationally homeless individuals, not chronic, not identified with mental health, substance abuse, and alcohol issues, [but who are] ready to immediately go into housing.”

Democratic lawmakers are calling on DeSantis to address the affordable housing crisis, which some say led to homeless people camping in public places or sleeping in their cars.

During last year’s legislative session, DeSantis signed the Live Local Act into law, which invested $711 million in multiple programs designed to expand the availability of housing and down payment assistance.

Lawmakers said that the program helped, but said they are hearing from their constituents that they need to do more.

Buying a home has also become an expensive investment with the average home value coming in just under $389,000, according to Zillow.

″What can we do now? Because Floridians need relief now, people need relief now, it’s impacting everyone, again, not just young people but young people, working families, our seniors,” said US Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost, a Democrat.